Encore!
by Sinful Snackbag
Summary: What started as DJ Grooves accidentally stumbling across the Conductor's other greatest passion would soon turn into a massive project, the biggest show of the century, a grand display of light and color and music...also known as Encore!, the long-awaited sequel to Grooves' hit movie The Big Parade.
1. Prologue

It started simple.

It had been a long, long time since Grooves had had a ten p.m. flash of inspiration like this one, and it came when he thought he heard _gunshots_ from down the hall.

From behind his huge studio desk the penguin jumped a solid few inches into the air when the air split with a _CRACK._ Then came another, and another! His flipper reached for the phone set beside him to call for security, when there were a couple timid crashes and a low, booming hit, and Grooves realized what it was. One of the Conductor's Wowl owls must've moved his drumset into one of the rooms and started to practice.

Grooves had nothing against percussion. Sure, it was a little loud, but having seen the Conductor's owl band perform before, he knew that they had more instrumental talent than he could ever possibly hope to shake a stick at, and thus, deserved a little respect. Maybe the background track would help him focus, he thought as the drummer busted out a couple basic rudiments on the snare. He waited for the trumpeter, bassist, and pianist to join their bandmate, but those signature warm-up scales and long tones never arrived - making the drum sound oddly lonely, out of place. And loud. Seriously, why hadn't they invested in soundproof walls when they bought the studio all those years ago?

He stood slowly from his chair to go investigate the drummer. It wasn't difficult to play hot and cold with such a noisy, repetitive instrument. The drummer picked up a smooth, almost drunkenly lopsided groove that varied its pattern every so often, returning to the base kick-hit beat after a few measures. Eventually, he passed by a door opened just a crack and was distracted by a flash of red and gold - the drumset, set up in one of the prop storage rooms.

Uh...Was that a kazoo?

Grooves peeked through the crack in the door, and, well, he hadn't been this startled in quite awhile!

Sitting behind the drumset, bopping his head a little and holding sticks that flew across it, was the Conductor, with a professional-grade kazoo between his teeth. He was completely and totally absorbed in whatever he was doing, oblivious to Grooves' presence; if he had eyes, they would be glazed over with how hard he was zoning out. The lights were on, but nobody was home. In the short minutes since he'd began, the Conductor had become completely and totally lost within his private rhythm.

A small melody leaked from the kazoo, nothing that Grooves had ever heard before, but charming nonetheless. Soon enough, the DJ found himself nodding his head along with the steady beat.

Until the Conductor accidentally hit the rim of a drum, and and otherwise cute song devolved into enraged cymbal crashes and improvised kazoo screaming.

"Darling, darling!" Grooves exclaimed, bursting into the storage room without a care to the Conductor's reaction. "That is enough! You're going to break something!"

Conductor ceased his tantrum abruptly, his gaze flitting up to meet Grooves' eyes as he removed the kazoo from his mouth and set it in his lap. It wasn't quite hostility radiating from the old owl, but it wasn't goodwill, either. Grooves stayed carefully on guard.

Then the Conductor sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Ye didn't see none o' this, got?"

"...Right."

"Guess ye discovered me li'l side hobby." Absently the Conductor started drumming lightly on his left knee, huffing indignantly. "...Ah woulda appreciated a knock, ye know!"

"Sorry," Grooves offered. "You were loud."

Tactfully Conductor hit a single shot on the snare, a snap so loud it caused Grooves' ears to try and implode in on themselves. "Gah!" He reached up and clapped his flippers over his ears.

The Conductor _tch_ed. "Wuss. See these?" He gestured up to his own ears, parting the feathers ever so slightly to reveal a piece of plastic, gold so it blended in with the rest of him. Hearing aids. "It's not jus' because o' action films that me ears are shot. Ah started damagin' them when I joined marchin' band in high school. These are gonna be loud, they hafta be."

Grooves shifted his weight from one foot to the other, then back again. "Fair..." Still nervous that the Conductor would pull that again, he cleared his throat. "You are talented, though."

Conductor brightened like an excited child, an expression that lifted Grooves' spirits. "HA! Ah'm nae jus' some percussionist! Ah was section leader for six years and drum major me senior year o' high school!" He put a hand proudly on his chest. "The Wowl drummer, Ah taught 'im everything he knows. Ah remember the wae I stunned me director when Ah went to college, outshinin' the rest o' the drumline right off the bat!" He began to cackle lowly, smugly. "Those wind players were always fulla hot scared the peck out o' them. Me nickname was Teeth!"

_Teeth._ A snort escaped the DJ. As usual, the Conductor's sense of self was way overinflated, but unlike his moviemaking skills, Grooves actually acknowledged and appreciated this new talent. "So you played all throughout high school and uni?"

"Yes!" Wow, it was rare to see Conductor this fired up about anything other than maybe his train. "I wouldnae have gone where I did if the uni didn't have a marchin' band!" He pumped his fists a few times in elation. "Scholarship central!"

"I dabbled in band a bit," Grooves murmured. "Ended up quitting after two years, though."

Conductor ran his eyes up and down Grooves, sending shudders down the penguin's spine. "Ye look like the alto sax type," said the Conductor.

Grooves laughed a little. "Tenor, actually. I was never that good, always fourth or fifth chair."

"Chamber or marching?"

"Jazz."

"Nerd." The Conductor giggled. "Real men do marchin' band."

Never before had Grooves encountered anybody who radiated this much positivity, except maybe Hat Kid, nevermind the Conductor of all people. Maybe he didn't know that much about marching band, but the owl looked so _happy_ when he talked about it...

"Ah was always gettin' inta fights with pit, even when I was drum major," the Conductor continued. "All kindsa arguments. 'Further ta the right! No, the marimba needs ta be on the 50! Oi, why arent'cha starin' at yer mallets like yer supposed ta?!' I was ne'er in pit, always stronger on drums than I was on mallets-" He caught the look on Grooves' face. "Yer have no idea what any o' that meant, do ye?"

Ruefully, Grooves chuckled. "Not a clue, darling. But you seem to enjoy talking about it, so don't stop."

The owl happily obliged. An easy comradely, one that they had thought died after they graduated from university, settled between them as they traded jazz band stories and laughed at Conductor's "this one time at band camp" tales. Grooves hadn't been this comfortable around anyone in a long while.

Watching his fellow director retell fond marching memories, a plan slowly took shape in Grooves' mind. He'd known he'd wanted a sequel to _The Big Parade_ the moment the Conductor burst into his office days after its release with a couple loud critiques - not about the loudness or plotlessness, but about the impossible choice of marching double basses and lack of percussion. _Would he agree to...a collaboration project?_


	2. Meltdown

Mafia Town was creeping with anticipation, palpable in the way Mafia men bumbled about the town chatting among themselves. The hustle reached its peak when three or four men descended into a complete brawl in the market square when one caused the others to fall over and drop their crates of fruit and fish. Watching the cartoon carnage below, balanced perfectly on a ribbon line, was Bow Kid, with a small smile in silent amusement. _What losers..._

A celebration was planned tonight, or so Bow caught wind of. If what the Cooking Cat had told her was to be believed, it was primarily for the appearance of a centennial multicolored meteor shower happening tonight, but it wasn't just that - today also marked two of this planet's years since she and her Hat Kid had defeated a red-hooded mustachioed menace armed with God-playing, reality warping hourglasses. Though the Mafia Boss would never admit that he'd found it within his visceral smoothie of a heart to forgive Hat for what had happened to him, there'd been a celebration like this one last year, too. Bow wasn't one to doubt the Cooking Cat, either.

...Where was Hat, anyway? And for that matter where was Mustache Girl? The two had vanished sometime before with Hat citing that Mu needed to talk before the shower. Bow, frankly, was jealous. Maybe it wasn't her business, but she still might've liked to be with Hat right now, instead of alone while those two were doing who knew what who knew where.

As the sun set around her the faint, crisp sound of a familiar etude made her ears perk up. Bow recognized that tune...

Hat struggled to settle atop a vacant hot air balloon. She'd been on one plenty of times before, but she was always alone enjoying the view, and Mustache Girl's added weight made the fabric give in unexpected ways as she scooted over to her friend where she sat, viewing the horizon. It was warm beneath them and chilly above. Together they sat, heads tilted slightly away from one another, the air somewhat thick and the reason they were up here to begin with unclear - at least from Hat's perspective.

She slanted a glance over at Mu. The other girl insistently stared away, shoulders round and her knees drawn up to her chest, where she embraced them. Mu was taller now, but not by much, and even sitting Hat's head went over hers. Gingerly, she laid a hand on Mu's shoulder. "...Are you okay?" she asked finally.

Mu's head snapped around, surprised at the contact, making Hat shrink away a smidgen. But then Mu relaxed morosely, her large yellow eyes softening. "Am _I_ okay," she murmured. "I should be asking _you_ that. Your last Timekeeper mission was really long, wasn't it? We haven't been able to talk in awhile."

"Five weeks," said Hat. She'd been tasked by the CEO of Time to repair a series of Time Rifts on the other side of the galaxy that were worryingly close to collapse, a task incomparably easy when she considered what she'd faced on this planet. "But really, I'm fine. We came up here to talk about you."

Mu had been acting weird even before Hat and Bow went on their last mission. Hat had spent so much time on this planet since declaring it her second home that she was aware of her little family's little tics, and Mu had been setting off _all_ the alarms. Mu flip-flopped between being horrendously antisocial and all over Hat, moods more unpredictable than a collapsing star...well, more than usual. _Did I do something to make her upset?_ Hat wondered worriedly.

"You always say and do stuff for other people," Mu muttered darkly. "I wonder why no one ever gets mad at _you_ for it."

Oh. It was about this. "Mu, I think we both know what you did wasn't for the greater good..."

"Maybe not," she snapped, turning and snarling at Hat. "But it's what I _thought_ I was doing it for. Isn't that what matters?" She turned away again, burying the bottom half of her face into her arms. "Why am I the bad guy for trying to do what I thought was right? Why do you and Bow and everyone else hate me? Why are you two the heroes?"

Hat wrinkled her nose. She swore they'd had this conversation many, many times, but...well, Mu was an anxious person. Maybe she just needed to hear this again. Hat didn't mind so much. "That's not true," she said quietly, putting her hand on Mu's shoulder again. "Bow and I don't hate you. And...Bow and I aren't heroes. If you think about it, we're guilty of the same things as you." Hat's shoulders slumped. "We killed people to get what we want. We were careless with the Time Pieces and everyone suffered because of it."

Such was why almost everyone in Hat's little family had tried to kill her at some point. _Getting shanked in a basement was definitely never on the bucket list._

Mu hadn't ever heard Hat talk in that tone of voice...It scared her a little. "Well," she said bashfully. "...I think you're a hero..."

Hat smiled a little in Mu's peripherals. "Thanks." She turned back to Mu with a deep, intense stare. "More importantly, everything turned out okay in the end, right? Bow and me and you are together again and people who hated each other before don't hate each other so much anymore. I'm glad I can be here with you today. I've learned a lot from you, you know."

Hat thought of herself as a blunt person, almost passive in how little things bothered her. The blonde before her nearly destroying the space-time continuum? Not a big deal. Mu almost prayed for Hat to do a complete 180 in that moment and start screaming, though she knew it never would happen.

"I just..." Hat murmured, "wish I could go back and do everything over." She laughed without humor at the resulting expression on Hat's face. "Oh, Hattie. I'm not gonna steal the Time Pieces again."

"Okay."

A long, long silence passed while Hat watched the sun creep ever closer to the ocean, searching for something to say.

Finally, she piped up tepidly. "What would you do differently?"

This was Mu's chance. She had to say what she'd meant to say now, even if the thought made her stomach drop into her pelvis.

She might never have the guts to try again if she didn't.

"I...would tell you I like you sooner, I think."

It was out in the open. Hat's head whipped around at breakneck speed, eyes wide with surprise. "Oh. Oh, Mu-! I never knew you felt that way!"

"I'm sorry!" Mu balled up her fist, gripping fistfuls of her pink dress and stuffing her face into her elbows. "I know you and Bow are...whatever you and Bow are, and I don't want to get in the way of that. Cod..." Her shoulders began to tremble softly. "I'm so stupid..."

Guilt crawled up out of Hat's throat and died, leaving a bad taste in her mouth. She awkwardly put an arm around the girl's shoulders as some show of comfort. Hat loved Mu, sure, but..._Not like I love Bow._ Hushed sobs rippled from Mu's throat.

_Oh no._ "Mu," Hat said, reaching for her friend with her other arm. "Oh, Mu. I'm sorry. Please stop crying." _You're gonna make me cry, too._ "I know!" She pulled away quickly, wiggling her hands with a sudden rush. "I-I'l' play you something. People say they feel happy when they hear my trumpet!" She reached up and squished Mu's cheeks with her palms, faking a smile for both of their sakes.

"Huh?" Mu looked confused behind her tears, a little taken aback. Only Hat would offer something so out of left field..."O-okay, I guess..."

Hat sat back once more, removing her titular top hat and turning it upside down. Then, to Mu's alarm, her entire arm disappeared into it, then the other, and she pulled out a brown instrument case bigger than her head! Hat chuckled cheerfully. "It's magic!" she said. Putting the case on her lap, she gave one jazz hand to emphasize. "Magic~!"

From the case she produced a golden instrument with a peachy sheen to it. It had three valves and a mess of piping that Mu, as a strings player rather than a winds player, couldn't possibly hope to understand. Delicately, Hat stuck a silver mouthpiece into it and assumed a playing position, slipping her thumb and ring finger into the slide rings. She pumped the valves a few times and blew a stream of warm, noteless air into it. "It's not totally a trumpet," she murmured absently. "It's more like a horn from my world. There's a band that practices on my ship sometimes, and their trumpeter called it an 'E flat' trumpet. I think it's pretty."

"It is." Mu laid back to look up into the sky, where the first few stars were peeking through the atmosphere. Resting her head on her arms, she sighed. "...Serenade me," she said with another humorless laugh.

"Alright." Hat took a deep breath. "'An Etude in Time', number one."

There was a certain fascination Mu had always held toward the few wind players she'd encountered in her life, back when there were people like her on this island. The way they held their instruments like babies, the purpose with which they pressed the keys and moved their tongues...

The way Hat kissed that mouthpiece...

And she pointed her bell to the sea and played, loud and proud.

Her face went red with the effort, determined to reach everyone in her mind with this one song. Not one to question the why of things, though she wasn't sure why in the first place, she ignored the mezzo piano mark she remembered from her sheet music and played with the volume and tone she found befitting of this situation. Her spirits soared as blood rushed to her head.

Mu felt Hat's conviction in every note, shaking her to her very core. For being a teenage girl, Hat had quite the pair of lungs on her, strength rooted in her species as well as hundreds of long hours practicing, pouring her blood, sweat and tears into perfecting her craft. Shoulders rigid, Hat played at but one dynamic, and Mu couldn't help but notice that the amount of sheer emotion she funneled into her playing destroyed any subtlety in its delivery, each articulation shrill and harsh.

Then Hat's eyes half-lidded. Her bell fell from its erect position ever so slightly, and with the key change came something...sadder. Hat's volume dropped. She closed her eyes serenely, and let herself be swept away.

She was taken back to a dark, dark time in her life. All around her, Hat's friends brandished fists and knives and unbridled willpower, taking each other down to give Hat the strength she needed to finish Mu off. She saw, with heartbreaking vividity, Bow in the arms of the Snatcher, gasping and dying and bursting pitifully into a couple of red Pons...Hat's final push. The primordial rage and agony on Hat's face haunted Mu's nightmares to this day. In her memories she saw Hat swing Bow's beloved bat over her shoulder, ready to smash Mu into oblivion-

The song ended somberly, tapered but sudden enough to catch Mu off guard. She opened her eyes to feel tears dripping down her face.

"Heh..." Looking up, she spotted Hat swiping at her eyes with a purple sleeve. "Sorry...I, uh, wrote that piece about...when all my friends were sacrificing themselves to help me fight you. It still makes me sad."

"Weird..." said Mu absently. "That's what it made me think of, too."

Hat laughed hollowly as Mu sat up, lowering her horn in embarrassment. "Gosh, that probably wasn't good to cheer you up! It was just the only etude I had memorized, and I love it to bits, so-"

"It's okay, Hattie." Mu cut her off, reaching over and patting one of her cheeks. "I like your playing. A lot."

It was Hat's turn to look taken aback, but it was quickly replaced by a genuine smile of appreciation. "Thanks."

_Maybe things will be okay._

It wasn't the end of the world if Hat didn't reciprocate Mu's feelings. _Really...I should've known, the moment I first saw them together, that I never stood a chance._

"Hehe!" Hat pulled away abruptly. "Watch this." She leaned a little bit over the edge of the balloon, pressed a button on her trumpet, and blew through it. A waterfall of cloudy water spilled out of it and over the side of the balloon.

"Yuck!" Mu exclaimed.

"I know, right? That's all spit!"

"GROSS!"

For a little while longer the two chatted about Hat's trumpet...and Mu did feel a little bit better.

She'd just needed to hear Hat's trumpet to accept what was long established as the truth. Hat would never love her like she loved Bow. To be honest, Mu would probably cry about it later, but it didn't matter right at this moment - where she was here with Hat, laughing and making memories.

Just for now.

Several days later Bow sat in front of Hat's TV, playing a 32-bit platformer about a corgi when Hat's rear control panel to her right tweeted loudly - a ringtone of sorts. The ship was being hailed. Bow jumped in surprise, dropping the controller by mistake. She muttered curses as her canine avatar fell into a bottomless pit on the screen.

It had to have been Hat and Bow's former bosses, the Conductor and DJ Grooves. They weren't the only ones capable of hailing the ship, but the Cooking Cat was on board at the moment and Snatcher never called anyway, so Bow ruled them out. She zipped over to the panel and "boop'"ed one of the many screens to greet a crystal-clear audio-only call from their bosses-turned-weird-uncles.

Of course, Hat knew none of this. She was stuck in the Machine Room, with the Wowl band, where the trumpeter had put in front of her a particularly difficult piece titled "Sand n' Sails Movement 2: Heatgusts". The rhythms nor time were the issue, Hat reflected with a frown, just the notes; the range of the piece was barely outside what she'd practiced. She read through the music absently, fingering what she could and tightening up her mouth in anticipation.

The trumpeter, a quiet guy named Alex, peeped over her stand then glimpsed up to meet her eyes. "Play it an octave down at first," he suggested. "Don't worry too much if you can't play it right now. It's the first time the rest of the band has seen it, too."

"I'm sure this will go swimmingly," Hat deadpanned.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Fellas," he asked a little louder to the rest of the band. "From the top?"

A chorus of soft "sure"s responded. Alex put his wings up to conduct, gave the band a second to be in playing position, then began counting for them. "One, two, three, four-"

"Wait!"

Hat sighed through her teeth, not one to irritate easily, but practice today was just getting on her nerves for some reason. "What is it, Bow?"

Bow poked her head around a corner, eyes as wide as an owl's. "Phone call," she reported bluntly. "It's the Conductor and DJ Grooves." She clapped a hand over her mouth. "I'm worried about them, Hat! They're talking nonsense!"

"Sounds serious. Hold my horn." Hat stuffed her trumpet into Alex's arms and lead Bow by the hand to another of the ship's computer's many interfaces. "Computer," she ordered it. "Redirect call from living room to Machine Room."

A beep signaled the success of the action. A timid baritone sounded from the panel. "...Darling? You there now?"

Hat smiled. "Grooves," she greeted warmly. "Is Connie there, too?"

"Aye, lass. Good ta hear from ya."

"What's the matter?" She turned to Bow as the girl joined her by her side. "Bow says you're talking nonsense."

"Nonsense?!" Grooves sounded deeply offended. "Why, darling, this is a splendid idea! The Conductor and I are going to do a collaboration project!"

Hat's jaw dropped so far she swore she felt it brush the panel beneath her. _Oh._ She understood Bow's concern all of a sudden. "I..." she mumbled, exchanging a glance with Bow, "think you guys might be sick. Sit tight. I'll be on the planet soon and I'll bring soup."

"No, no no!" the Conductor barked. "We're serious, lassie! We've got an idea for a sequel to _The Big Parade_!"

_The Big Parade?_ It sure had been awhile since Hat and Bow had heard about that old stunt. While she remained inclined to blow the birds off as feverish and delusional, she closed her mouth and narrowed her eyes. "Go on..." she said, still skeptical. "I'm listening..."


	3. If We Were a Movie

"CONNIE!"

Hat had gotten to Dead Bird Studios as soon as she could after the director's call, and the two waited for her and Bow in a lobby sparsely populated by other owls and penguins. Hat sped into the Conductor's gold arms, letting him spin her around in excitement and laughter. Bow shyly edged up to Grooves and put her little arms up, murmuring something like "Pay attention to me." Grooves chuckled and lifted her into his arms. While they both had worked for both directors, in the Conductor's movies Bow had taken a backseat, and in the DJ's movies it was the reverse, with Hat as the deuteragonist. It was no secret that the difference was because it was painfully clear each girl had a favorite director, and each director had a favorite girl.

Having returned fresh from a Timekeeper mission, it had been a hot second since they'd seen the directors anyway. The four really needed to go for cake or something sometime.

"Thanks for getting here so quickly," said Grooves around Bow's head. "We shouldn't take too much of your time. We've got sketches of sets and costumes downstairs and a plot draft, too."

Still with her hands on the Conductor's shoulders, Hat glanced up at Grooves. "Just how much did you get done in how much time?"

Conductor shrugged. "Three weeks worth in three days, maybe...?"

"It was mostly Conductor," Grooves said, pointing at his rival like a child tattling to his mother. "His coffee breath is worse than normal."

Frantically Conductor ripped away from Hat, growling in his throat and fumbling around in his pockets, eventually pulling out a red metal tin and popping a few breath mints. "Damn it, Grooves. Yer the one who _gave_ me such a ridiculous deadline."

"I knew you could do it, darling," the penguin replied cheerfully. "Come now, we've things to talk to the girls about!"

The Conductor's expression morphed into something unreadable. Bow wiggled out of Grooves' hold to take Hat's hand and follow the two birds through the Conductor's half of the studio and to the elevator that took them down to the office and storage level.

After that there was a general air of friendliness and cheerfulness radiating off of all four of them. Hat wasn't ignorant of the smiles the Conductor and Grooves shot each other, or the general atmosphere that was uncharacteristically tension-free. It wasn't unpleasant, either. Hat and Bow were just happy to be able to be with both directors at the same time without a verbal (or physical) fistfight...or knife fight, Hat thought with a pointed glance at the Conductor. She intertwined her fingers with Bow's. Her face said she thought time like this was nice, too.

How long it would last was unclear.

Grooves and the Conductor spoke of their idea like the girls were already on board - and, Hat decided, she supposed she was. _I appear to have not a choice nor anything better to do._ The idea itself was boney and definitely a draft, a shell of what it would soon become, but it brought Hat joy nonetheless. She was sure it was going to be good.

"We know it's a fledgling of an idea," Grooves explained, seeming to have read hat's mind. In front of them, the elevator chirped at them and slid open. "But we like to write characters around the actors we know are going to play them."

"It's why we've used a similar set of actors for every movie," the Conductor added.

"Right." Grooves gestured politely with a wing for the girls and the Conductor to exit before him. "We wanted to make sure you were willing before we made any more plans!"

Bow smiled over at Hat. "I'm game," she murmured.

"Me too." Hat pumped a fist in excitement. "Heck yeah! It'll feel good to be back in front of a camera!" She glared playfully up at the directors with a grin as the group made their way down the office hall, past other Express owls and Moon penguins, to the Conductor's office. "And maybe we'll got through some legal processes to give permission to use our image and stuff so we can actually get paid, yeah! I'm friends with a lawyer! I'll sue!"

The two directors chuckled uncomfortably, and the Conductor reached over to tap the DJ's shoulder.

"Isn't that, like, doubly illegal since we're minors?" Bow tapped her chin. "I don't remember signing anything last time."

Face betraying that he'd been caught pretty off guard, the Conductor stopped dead and started talking rapidly with his hands. "Yeah, well, uh, here's the thing, lassies-"

"We didn't tell you this when we made your bird identities, but-" Grooves cleared his throat.

"Legally," said the Conductor, pointing at Hat, "in the eyes of the United Federation o' Birds, yer me kid. And Bow is Grooves'. So we made those decisions for ye, back a few years ago."

Bow broke into giggles behind Hat's back, and whether they were of amusement or disbelief was unclear. Hat growled slightly. "...And you didn't tell us this until _now?_"

"It wasn't important!" the Conductor whined defensively. "We're sorry, lassies. Ye'll get paid this time, we promise!"

The group took a left turn into an ajar grey door into the Conductor's neat office, barebones with only a few filing cabinets, a grand desk with a computer, and a red rug on the floor. Hat clicked her tongue disapprovingly, passing past the Conductor and pulling up a wooden chair from near the wall to put it in front of the desk. "That's not what I'm worried about," she scoffed. A shudder flew down the Conductor's spine at the smug sideways look she shot him as she sat down. "...Dad."

"_Lass._"

"You're in trouble," Bow informed Grooves quietly. "This is something we're gonna hold over your heads, you know." She put her hands up, asking him to hold her again. She was up to his belt now, Grooves reflected. Soon she'd be too big, but for now, he lifted her up and she snuggled up against his soft chest feathers. "I know, darling," he said awkwardly. "...It was rotten. We just didn't see any other way around it." A realization came to him with a frown. "Since you _are_ a minor, you couldn't have signed anyway, with out your mom or dad. Maybe there really was no other choice."

"Hat's mad." She pointed to Hat, who was laughing and harassing the Conductor, darting around him with the occasional small punch here or a pluck of a feather there. "She gets like that when she's mad."

"You aren't, darling?"

"Nah." Bow sighed happily. "I don't mind so much. I thought of you as part of my family anyway." Grooves' heart melted just a little.

Conductor wrangled himself free of Hat's wrath and stubbornly plopped down at his desk across from her, shielding his head from further assault with his arms. Grooves carried Bow in to join, setting her down on the desk like she was a cup of coffee or a folder. "Lass, that is _enough,_," the Conductor sighed. "We've got work ta do!"

"Alright, Dad," Hat sneered with another click of her tongue.

"_Lass..._"

"Here's the scoop," Grooves said quickly with a small smile. "We think you'll like this...The working title for our movie is _Encore_. And remember how we like to write characters around the actors?"

"Mmhmm..."

"Well." Grooves shared an excited glance with the Conductor. "We want you darlings to recruit your friends to be actors alongside you!"

Bow tapped the pads of her fingers together in elation and Hat gasped dramatically into her hands.

"The movie's aaaall about ye lassies," the Conductor said, waggling a finger at them. "Ne'er mind the fact that Ah wouldn't have agreed to a collaboration if ye two weren't involved...Yer deserve some freedom. And we won't try ta kill ye this time!" He purposefully turned his head toward Grooves, who stared back with equal contempt for both their past misdeeds.

Sensing tension, Hat laughed nervously. "I-I think it's a great idea!" she cried. This was more like the Grooves and the Conductor she was used to.

"Me too," said Bow wholeheartedly. "...Gosh, imagine a movie with Mu, or Cookie, or even Snatcher!"

"Pssh, that old worm would never agree to do anything cool like this!" All Snatcher did nowadays was mooch off of the oxygen on Hat's ship, reading and hawking up the occasional Death Wish. He'd never agree to be in a movie...

Which was why Hat was going to try to convince him first.

Bow's big eyes flitted timidly back and forth between her directors. "Can..." she piped, "you guys be in it?"

Conductor reached over and patted the top of her hand comfortingly. "Well, that goes without saying, lass."

Hat narrowed her eyes shiftily. "Still...where is this coming from? When did you two get so buddy-buddy?"

Grooves and the Conductor exchanged a glance, then looked away just as quickly, both muttering some iteration of "Haha, not important". It did little to ease Hat's suspicion. Something happened here, but her dense mind couldn't even begin to guess what it was.

Bow noticed, too, but her expression said she didn't care so much. Their eyes met, having a quick, silent conversation about the situation, becoming so absorbed in it they were caught off guard when the Conductor slapped down a paper folder with enough force to change the subject. "So!" he cried. "Ah been up the past few nights sketchin' till me wrists almost fell off. Take a look at me hard work."

Hat opened up the folder and began to thumb through the stack of papers contained within, eyes growing steadily wider and wider with each new sketch. _Damn, who taught this old man to draw?_ While rough and black-and-white, each sketch brought to life a new angle of each set - the Moon town set during the day and at night, and an air view and a street view of it, a professional recording studio, a kitchen and a bedroom so reminiscent of Hat's own it brought a smile to her face. Bow planted her index finger on a field of flowers with a big tree, the huge moon in the background. "I like this one!" Crusty old man the Conductor may be, but times like this was why Hat respected him; he still brought many people a whole lot of joy."They're great," she said emphatically. "I love 'em!"

The owl brightened. "Great!" Hat thought his expression said something like _Three whole pots of coffee put to good use._

Bow tapped the pads of her fingers together, clearly very pleased with the way the events had turned. "Let's get started!" she squealed. "The sooner we recruit people the sooner we can, right?"

"I like the way you think, darling," Grooves said in amusement. "Do you have anyone in mind already?"

"Well, our friend Mustache Girl..."

One of the penguin's massive eyebrows rose. "Really? The mustached darling?" His voice conveyed his confusion - while the girls were still friends with Mu, they tried to avoid speaking of her even after years had passed to keep her safe.

Surprisingly, Bow sprang to Mu's defense before Hat could even try. "Hey," she pouted. "Really. She's our friend, so why shouldn't she be in it with us?"

Impressed, Hat leaned over and patted her shoulder. She smiled back.

Grooves and the Conductor shrugged at each other. "Alright," said Grooves, "I suppose I trust you darlings to keep an eye on her-"

"Grrrr!" Hat leapt to her feet on the chair to reach over and lightly sock Grooves in his big, fluffy gut. "She don't need watching! Don't be mean to our friend!"

"Yeah!" Bow joined in, the both of them leaning over to batter Grooves together. The Conductor cackled behind them, crossing his arms and legs. Laughter filled the office. "Darlings, darlings!" Grooves cried, placing a flipper on both of their heads in an attempt to calm them. "Alright! I'll trust your friend!"

Picking at his teeth with a long talon, the Conductor _tch_ed. "Ah'd like ta meet the angry li'l lass again. So ye'd better go _get_ her."

"Righto." Hat gave a salute without any meat behind it. "Keep those ideas coming...I'm still not sure how you two are working together, but it's nice, so keep it together for a little bit, please." She offered a hand to Bow to help her get down from the desk, which the smaller girl took as she hopped down. "We'll be back eventually. Play nice."

Before she exited behind Hat, she paused, turning back to the Conductor and Grooves with a shining beam. She waved a hand in the air. "Bye, Con!" she sang. "Bye, Papa! See you later!"

Grooves clapped a flipper over his heart, making a small, defeated noise under his breath. "Buh-bye, darling," he was barely able to struggle out around the lump of adoration in his throat. "Have fun and be safe."

Conductor spun around once the girls had left to stare at the back wall. "...Haha, me sons don't know they legally have a human sister, either. Whoops. Maybe I should tell 'em." He crossed his ankles, refusing to elaborate further.

"So," Grooves ventured, "we _can_ keep this thing together for their sakes, right?"

"Eh." Conductor shrugged. "Probably."

"...You sure have changed ever since what happ-"

Violently the old owl released a growl and whipped around, jamming a talon in his rival's face. "Shut it."

Grooves put up his flippers up defensively, taking a step back. "Woah! Darling, sorry, I just-"

"Ebabababababab! Ah said shut it!" Lacklusterly he sat back, groaning and pinching the bridge of his beak. "Ah said it before an' Ah'll say it again. I was drunk when that happen, awright? Hasn't changed me none. And if ye keep bringin' that up I'll start sayin' I was drunk when I agreed ta _this_ too."

Abruptly he stood before Grooves could get in another word edgewise. "Got that?" Without giving him a chance to reply, the Conductor stormed off.

Grooves studied the door that the Conductor left out of, brow furrowed and covering his beak with a flipper in thought. He had but a single sentiment, one he was sure anyone who had seen the Conductor would share. The owl had started scratching the back of his neck after he'd said he was drunk, a tell the penguin recognized from all the years the two had spent in the same building.

"...Liar."


End file.
